<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Don't Be An Idiot by PeterStark</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26288635">Don't Be An Idiot</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeterStark/pseuds/PeterStark'>PeterStark</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Marked by Fate [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awkwardness, BAMF Felicity Smoak, Canon-Typical Violence, Falling In Love, Felicity Ships It, Hurt Barry Allen, Hurt Oliver Queen, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Oliver Queen Doesn't Do Emotions Well, Protective Oliver Queen, Sharing Pain, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, They just suck at it, slowly, they're trying to figure it out</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:48:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,990</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26288635</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeterStark/pseuds/PeterStark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Oh! He's going to be fine. She says it'll be a few hours, but he'll be okay." Felicity promised. "Super healing and all that. They sent him home to rest for the night. But you should call him."</p><p>"I'm a bit busy." Oliver said.</p><p>"Yeah, well, after we win. Make sure you call him." Felicity responded, her tone somewhere between bored and annoyed.</p><p>Oliver didn't understand it. "He's fine. You said it yourself." His nerves begged to differ. And his Mark still ached. Oliver made a mental note that no, they probably didn't have drugs strong enough to ease Barry's pain. Someone should really work on that, someone who understood metahuman biology. That and someone needed to teach the speedster how to asses situations before running head first into them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Barry Allen &amp; Caitlin Snow, Barry Allen/Oliver Queen, Oliver Queen &amp; Felicity Smoak</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Marked by Fate [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1564228</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>202</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Don't Be An Idiot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I just can't let this go. I tried to, but I can't. Also, wish there was more Flarrow out there. I feel like I fall in love with stories and then they're abandoned. :(<br/>I own nothing.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was weird. There were times when Barry was certain that his soulmate didn't want to have a soulmate. Times when he was sure Oliver regretted having Barry's Mark on his wrist. But then again, sometimes, during their few and far-between coffee meetups, Oliver would drop his usual flat look on his face and crack a rare smile. They were so rare that Barry wasn't sure if they were real or not.</p><p>It just seemed that Oliver wasn't fully interested.</p><p>Maybe he was just scared. The one time he'd felt Oliver's feelings it had been a mix of utter controlled calm and anxiety. The man had gone through a lot, he could've been just scared.</p><p>Either way, it bothered Barry a little, not that he'd admit it. Not to Oliver anyway. It seemed emotions and Oliver didn't mix very well.</p><p>He wished he could talk to someone about it, but Felicity and Dig were really the only ones who knew that he and Oliver were soulmates. He wanted to tell Iris, but it would seem like a betrayal of Oliver's trust to do so without asking. Oliver didn't like the idea of anyone connecting Barry to him. That part Barry could sort of understand. There was a reason why Barry didn't just want to blab his identity to the world, enemies took advantage of things like that.</p><p>Barry huffed and adjusted his pillow again. Why did his thoughts race like this? Always when he was trying to fall asleep... But, since the lightning, his thoughts had raced, sometimes too fast for him to process. Made sleeping a hell of a lot more difficult, especially when complex thoughts and emotions came up, thoughts about Oliver and soulmates happened to be 'difficult' thoughts.</p><p>"Come on, just sleep." Barry hissed to himself. Thinking about the problem to death wouldn't fix it. After a while, Barry finally managed to fall asleep.</p><p>-</p><p>Barry woke up and was across his room before he even knew he'd woken up. He felt pain prickling in his throat, in his Mark. His sleepy mind knew that meant something significant and he felt like an idiot that it took him a whole second to process it.</p><p>Pain in throat.</p><p>No, not throat.</p><p>Pain in Mark.</p><p>Mark in pain.</p><p>Oliver.</p><p>Oliver was in pain.</p><p>In a flash, Barry grabbed his phone and began to text.</p><p>Me:</p><p>Oliver, are you okay?</p><p>No response. Barry felt fear go through him, but then logic came in. If Oliver was fighting, he wouldn't be able to ask for a time out to text. So, Barry pulled up a different number.</p><p>Me:</p><p>Felicity, is Oliver okay?</p><p>Badass Bitch with WIFI:</p><p>'Tis but a scratch.</p><p>Part of Barry wanted to laugh at the joke. The other part was too anxious.</p><p>Me:</p><p>My Mark hurts. Is it a literal scratch or is he missing an arm?</p><p>Badass Bitch with WIFI:</p><p>Sorry, I use humor in awkward situations. He's going to be fine. Really not much more than a scratch. He's on his way back to the Arrow Cave now...want me to have him call you once he's back safe?</p><p>Barry frowned. Did he want that? Yes. He did. It was normal for there to be little twinges here and there when Oliver was out...Arrow-ing, but that was it. Little twinges. This pain had been enough to make Barry bolt upright out of a dead sleep. It had his heart pounding faster than normal. Part of Barry knew he'd feel better if he heard the older man's voice. But aside from their few coffee chats, Oliver seemed most comfortable with text.</p><p>Me:</p><p>No. It's okay...just woke me up this time. It's not normally that bad. It worried me. Make sure he rests, okay?</p><p>Badass Bitch with WIFI:</p><p>Of course, Barry. He still acting all...distant and Oliver-y?</p><p>Me:</p><p>I'm pretty sure his face is in the dictionary next to distant.</p><p>Badass Bitch with WIFI:</p><p>Sorry... He does warm up over time, promise. GTG. I'll make sure he's alright. Try to rest, Barry.</p><p>Barry did. He lay down in his bed again and closed his eyes, trying to slow his heart and quiet his mind. He felt a few twinges in his Mark, he assumed it was stitches, but they weren't too painful. Almost asleep again, his phone vibrated. He turned it over and looked at it.</p><p>Oliver:</p><p>Felicity told me to text. I'm alright.</p><p>Barry wished Oliver didn't need to be told to text. But, if Barry had been taught anything by his parents, it was that even soulmates didn't have it easy. No life was a fairytale, no matter what the story books said.</p><p>Me:</p><p>Thank you. Get some rest, Ollie.</p><p>Oliver:</p><p>Goodnight, Barry.</p><p>Barry could still feel some of the twinges of pain, but fell asleep.</p><p>-</p><p>Oliver is used to the hum, by now. He's also used to wearing a cuff, bracelet, or watch around his wrist. It doesn't matter that he almost exclusively wears long sleeves now, but he wore a cuff on top of it, just in case anyone tried to see the Mark on his wrist. But it hummed, always hummed with an electric energy. He understood why now, of course, Barry had that energy in him and the Mark was left with residual energy.</p><p>He was used to the electricity now. He could focus on anything without it bothering him.</p><p>Agony shot through his wrist and he nearly lost control of the bike.</p><p>"What was that?" Felicity asked.</p><p>"My wrist, it just..." Oliver groaned as the pain intensified.</p><p>"Oliver?" Felicity's voice was concerned in his ear.</p><p>"Check on Barry."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"Just do it, Felicity." Oliver said. "I'm going after Carrie, tell me what you find out."</p><p>Felicity sighed. "On it."</p><p>Oliver went about business as normal, but inside he felt anything but normal. He didn't know what it was about Barry Allen. Maybe it was his overly-optimistic-sunshine personality or some weird aspect about the soulmate Mark. He didn't know what it was. But part of him wanted to be closer to the speedster. The other, more rational and less emotional, part of Oliver knew exactly what happened to people who got close to him. Oliver was darkness and pain and evil and just wrong... Barry's sunshine personality didn't deserve to be dragged into the pit with Oliver.</p><p>That was the last thing Oliver wanted. </p><p>So it left Oliver at an crossroads. He couldn't just not talk to Barry. He liked Barry, as a friend, for sure, maybe as more, Oliver didn't know yet. So part of him didn't want to just cut all ties to his soulmate, especially since he knew it would bother Barry. But he didn't exactly seek contact with the speedster either. Choosing to inflict himself on Barry as rarely as he could.</p><p>Maybe six hundred miles would be enough to keep the storm that was Oliver away from the sunny blue skies and sunshine that was Barry. Except Barry kept insisting on coffee every now and then, which was...nice, but fueled by anxiety. Oliver could hardly sit near the younger man without worrying that something would happen to him, that it would be his fault when Barry inevitably got hurt.</p><p>And now, here he was, his Mark screaming in pain...Barry's pain. It left the archer's heart racing, but he kept his head in the game. He had a criminal to stop.</p><p>"Oh shit..." Felicity whispered.</p><p>"What?" Oliver huffed.</p><p>"Barry... I just texted Cait. He's got thirteen fractures in his right hand, a concussion, three cracked ribs and a bruised spleen. Apparently he hit someone made of metal."</p><p>Ouch. No wonder why his Mark hurt so bad. An impact like that...Jesus. How the hell did Barry get into messes like that? What was he thinking? Was he a fucking moron? He needed to be smarter about how he fought. Oliver couldn't take this kind of worry. Was he even going to be alright? The pain was throbbing in his Mark. Did they have medicine strong enough to ease Barry's pain given his metabolism? Was he going to be alright?</p><p>"God, Central City is weird." Felicity continued. "And I thought all the shit we got into was messed up, but they have like a whole new layer added to their crazy onion of...evilness and baddies."</p><p>"Felicity. Point."</p><p>"Oh! He's going to be fine. She says it'll be a few hours, but he'll be okay." Felicity promised. "Super healing and all that. They sent him home to rest for the night. But you should call him."</p><p>"I'm a bit busy." Oliver said.</p><p>"Yeah, well, after we win. Make sure you call him." Felicity responded, her tone somewhere between bored and annoyed.</p><p>Oliver didn't understand it. "He's fine. You said it yourself." His nerves begged to differ. And his Mark still ached. Oliver made a mental note that no, they probably didn't have drugs strong enough to ease Barry's pain. Someone should really work on that, someone who understood metahuman biology. That and someone needed to teach the speedster how to asses situations before running head first into them.</p><p>"I know that particular nonchalant tone. You're worried. Call him, it'll ease your nerves. Plus, you'll probably brighten his day, I'm guessing it's not a great one given his injuries."</p><p>Oliver pulled up to the meeting spot. Time for business. "Dig, you there?"</p><p>"What's your twenty?"</p><p>"Subway stop downtown." Oliver answered, then put two and two together. He remembered this place. Remembered helping Carrie, saving her.</p><p>"Why did Cutter have you meet her there?" Dig wondered.</p><p>"Because this is where I saved her..." He turned when he heard her footsteps. Reluctantly, he shifted his bow into a less offensive stance. Barry would have wanted it that way. But since when had Barry's opinion mattered? Evil had to be stopped with force...right?</p><p>"Hello, lover." She crooned.</p><p>Somehow that wasn't just creepy, it was wrong. So wrong. "Not your lover." Oliver protested. He tried to stay calm as he spoke to her. Really he did. Even as she grew closer.</p><p>"Love is the cure." She insisted.</p><p>"Well, I'm not the man you think I am." He said, still staying calm, controlled.</p><p>"You're a hero." She said, lifting her hand to touch his face. "Who saved me."</p><p>The offending hand slid up his jaw, toward his mask. The mask Barry had made him. Oliver would like to think that he snagged her wrist and pulled her away from touching his mask out of some sort of preservation. That he didn't want the madwoman to see his identity. But that wasn't it. He just didn't want her to touch the one thing he had from Barry. He didn't want her hands to sully that gift. "I understand that you're hurting. And I know what it's like to want someone, but not be able to be with them. How you wish things could be different, but they can't." He couldn't be near Barry. He knew what being near people did. "I can't be with you, I can't be with anyone. I have to be alone." He took note of how she stepped back, of how her eyes flickered down. He followed her eyes. It was tiny, the smallest sliver of a red fingerprint. A tiny little bit of his Mark showing between his glove and his sleeve.</p><p>There was a moment of terror that welled up in Oliver. The Mark. She'd seen it, a tiny part of it anyway.</p><p>"Red. Like Cupid. Like me." She grinned.</p><p>Finally, a helpful delusion.</p><p>"You're a liar! You don't have to be alone."</p><p>Okay, not so helpful. Oliver thought as she attacked.</p><p>-</p><p>Oliver made it back to the Foundry and sighed when his phone rang. Oliver reached into his pocket and answered. "Hey, Felicity."</p><p>"Have you called Barry yet?" Felicity asked immediately.</p><p>"No." Oliver grunted, holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder as he pulled his jacket off. The thumb he'd dislocated ached. He popped it back in place with a grimace. Maybe a bit of ice would make it feel better. He'd had worse, funny how silly things like dislocated fingers and paper cuts could be more annoying than stab wounds and bullet holes. "Why? You said he'd be alright." Oliver moved the cuff and gazed at the Mark, it was a little lighter in color. He tried not to look at it, but he did notice that it was darker when Barry was around. He covered it quickly. It still ached. He could tell Barry was in pain. "Like you said, super healing."</p><p>"Don't be an idiot, Ollie. Call him. Now."</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>Felicity let out a frustrated sound. "Because you care about him. I don't know how, friend, boyfriend, partner in crime, whatever! The point is you care, especially if that crap you were spouting today was any indication. He's hurt. Barry is hurt, Oliver. Maybe a call from a friend would be of comfort. You share a Mark with him, so I doubt you can just cut him out like you do with most people. Try. Oliver. Barry would be really good for you, I think. And...you're good for him, whatever you think of yourself." Felicity muttered.</p><p>"Felicity...that's not how it works. I can't... I just can't, okay?"</p><p>"No. You listen to me for once in your damn life. You call him or I will shove my heel where the sun doesn't shine, don't think I won't." That was quickly becoming her favorite threat.</p><p>Oliver's jaw tensed. "Felicity."</p><p>"CALL. HIM. NOW." Felicity hung up.</p><p>Oliver took a breath and hung up his phone. He sighed and went to the small fridge, pulling out a water bottle from the ice box and resting it gently on his thumb. He sat down in a chair and turned his head. He had a pair of sweatpants and a shirt he could change into. Really, he wanted a shower and to get changed and wanted to rest. But...he did want to know if Barry was alright. His phone vibrated.</p><p>Felicity:</p><p>I know you haven't called him. I work IT, I know things. Call him.</p><p>Me:</p><p>Getting around to it.</p><p>Felicity:</p><p>Thirty minutes, idiot, or I'm on my way over with my highest heels.</p><p>Oliver made quick work. He took a short shower to clear away the grime of the fight. He then had a very quick snack before curling up on his small camp bed as he rested the cold water bottle to his thumb. With his free hand he lifted his phone and scrolled through the numbers. Then he hit call. Instant regret flooded him.</p><p>"O-Ollie?" A soft, tired voice asked.</p><p>Oliver felt like absolute shit. He'd woken Barry up when he'd been resting. "Uh...hey... Sorry. I can... We can talk later. Go back to sleep."</p><p>"No, no. I'm up. What's going on? You okay?" Barry asked.</p><p>"Am I okay?" Oliver asked incredulously. "Barry...my...the Mark's been aching...bad for almost two hours."</p><p>"Oh, yeah. Sorry. I may have broken a couple bones." He sounded exhausted. None of that usual chipper sunshine in his voice.</p><p>"You're going to be alright?"</p><p>"Oh, yeah... couple more hours and I should be back in fighting shape." Barry said, but he didn't sound enthusiastic.</p><p>Oliver frowned. He didn't really know what to do with that, what to say. "What was it this time?"</p><p>"Tried to punch a guy, he turned to steel before I hit him...then he hit back."</p><p>"Ouch."</p><p>Barry laughed, a soft weak thing. "Tell me about it. Sad thing is...I think I've met him before. He said something familiar. We'll figure it out. How was your day? Hopefully better than mine?"</p><p>Oliver sighed. "Archer calling herself Cupid. A bit fixated on me, enough that she tied me to train tracks. Pulled the 'if I can't have you no one can' thing that I thought only existed in bad movies."</p><p>Barry laughed. Full on, happy, sunshine laughter. "That's fantastic-ah." He cut off with a hiss of pain, but then chuckled again. "That's funny."</p><p>"She killed people with heart-shaped arrows." Oliver deadpanned.</p><p>"Terrible and tragic, I know. Sorry. But...what you said was funny."</p><p>Had it been? Oliver didn't know. </p><p>"I needed that." Barry continued.</p><p>That made a small smile form on Oliver's lips. His Mark throbbed though. "You sure you're alright? My Mark is still aching quite a bit."</p><p>"I'm fine. Been through worse. You know they don't exactly make meds that work with my super metabolism. They sort of work, then they burn away, I guess. Doesn't matter, wounds don't usually stick around too long."</p><p>"But you're still in pain."</p><p>Barry made a huffing noise. "Yeah...but I do heal faster so...pluses and minuses. Is m-the Mark really bothering you that bad? I'm sorry."</p><p>"It's not that. Just. Wanted to make sure you were okay." Oliver's mind began to spin. If they couldn't make him feel better, then the younger hero needed to learn how not to get so injured in the first place.</p><p>"Oh." Barry said, his voice confused. "Well, I think I'm going to be alright."</p><p>"Good. That's good. You should probably be resting. Sorry for keeping you up."</p><p>"Yeah. Caitlin will throw a fit if I don't."</p><p>"I know the feeling." Oliver laughed. "Get some rest, Barry."</p><p>"I will. And Ollie?"</p><p>"Yes?"</p><p>"Thanks for calling. I know that's not really your thing, but thanks."</p><p>"No problem, Barry."</p><p>"Goodnight, Ollie." With a yawn, the line clicked.</p><p>Oliver didn't get the chance to return the statement. He put the phone down and touched his covered wrist, where Barry's Mark was. "Goodnight, Barry."</p><p>This was becoming complicated. More complicated. He couldn't be around Barry, but he was finding it increasingly difficult to not be around Barry.</p><p>Oliver leaned back against the lumpy bed and closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to take away his complex thoughts.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Take care, lovelies.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>